Monday, March 12, 2012

03/12/2012
The global “Occupy Movement” opened the
struggle of the 99 percent disposed peoples of the world against the
miniscule but powerful one percent that monopolize the globe’s wealth.
That one percent is, of course, the oligarchy. Like the rest of the
world, the Philippines has had its own share of oligarchs who mimic and
implement the same paradigm of greed and exploitation that has dominated
the world these past two and a half decades — since the time of
Thatcherism and Reaganomics.

Even though the Philippines’ own
oligarchs may have spats — real or make-believe — with one another once
in a while, all of them will always stand united when it comes to
exploiting and exhausting the wealth and resources of this nation for
their fat bank accounts and megalomaniac egos.

At their core,
these oligarchs are the centurions of the global oligarchy in the
country, the local gatekeepers of finance capital holding rein through
money politics and mass media control. And because of this, the people
must recognize the need to oust this oligarchy in order to free this
nation from the global masters determined to extract every bit of wealth
and anima from us.

Just the other day, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) again had called for new taxes on the Filipino people. IMF
mission leader to the Philippines Vivek Arora reasoned that it is
required for “growth to be sustained over the medium term.” However,
what they won’t say is that while the oligarchy revels at the government
assets to be privatized for their benefit, as well as the taxes from
the people that finance the bureaucracy implementing the global and
domestic oligarchy’s will, the people suffer from over-taxation just so
that both public and private sector debts can be financed.

As I
picked up a copy of the credo of a giant bank’s training manual which
says, “We believe in the central role that private enterprise plays in
economic development,” it is pretty clear that minions are being
brainwashed to execute an ideology of servitude to the oligarchy.

But
pray tell us, is the United States of America, the Mecca of capitalism
that allows Wall Street to be the central power in its economy, a
shining example of economic development today? We have seen the US of A
become an economic wasteland as neoliberal economists of the Reagan
period transferred all power to private capital, which went on to seek
profit for profit’s sake and against continuous development of that
nation’s physical or “hard” industries, which then led private
enterprises to shift to Third World labor to further increase their
profits.

So, should the Third World celebrate this? Are people too
naive to realize that the Philippine oligarchy has also tapped into the
much bruited about business process outsourcing (BPO) sector?

Though
prone to window dressing, there are times when correct views emanate
from multilateral agencies, like that Asian Development Bank (ADB) study
by F. Tech Tschang, Associate Professor of Strategic Management,
stating that “the (Philippine) government should not rely on the (BPO)
industry in dealing with the poverty situation in the country.”

Further,
Norio Usui, ADB Philippines senior country economist, said the economy
must “walk on two legs,” one being the services sector and the other,
the industrial sector (particularly manufacturing) in order to achieve
growth. Of course, we should add the all-important factor: Agricultural
development toward food self-sufficiency.

Yet the Philippine
oligarchy will have none of these since they are averse to investing in
long gestation projects with substantial original capital (as opposed to
borrowed capital using government “sovereign guarantees”).

Hence,
private enterprise can never be the central engine in economic
development. As the state (i.e. the people and their territory) is the
genuine agent of the people’s aspirations and will, it is the ultimate
source of all capital.

Witness several state-led economies (such
as China, India, Venezuela, Brazil, Vietnam and Argentina) that have
shown the way since the advent of the 21st Century: Have they not
successfully established their own nation-state leadership paradigms,
which the Philippines can learn from? So then, how do we make this work
given the local oligarchy’s control of all institutions of state and
government, not to mention its control of all mainstream tri-media
instruments, as well as the educational system that shapes the minds of
our youth?
Ironically, the greatest ally of the people and the
nation-state centered leadership will be the oligarchs themselves. As
their ideology of greed inflicts greater and greater suffering on the
population, intra-oligarchy rivalries will soon arise.

In the
interim, the challenge to the genuine leadership agents of the people is
to maintain the audibility and visibility of their nationalist ideology
and its promise of genuine change and benefit to the general welfare.
The
first priority, therefore, is to consolidate the diverse forces that
represent the nationalist ideology into an alliance. From there, a
consistent message, image and leadership must find constant projection
in all forms of national media.

Those alleged “retired military
officers” plotting a supposed ouster of PeNoy would do well to consider
not just booting out a single trapo but the entire oligarchy. They must
also ensure that in the ensuing vacuum, all their efforts are in support
of a nationalist leadership. Otherwise, the same domination from PeNoy
and the oligarchy will remain. But no matter the great effort and
sacrifice needed for this, we must remember that the time is now ripe.
As the global and domestic situation mature toward an explosion of the
people’s rage, we will hear more and more exclaim, “Patria o muerte,
venceremos!”

03/12/2012
Now it is the turn of Chief Justice
Renato Corona to make himself heard in the impeachment trial regarding a
list of charges already aired and dried before the public but which his
accusers were having a hard time proving their charges in the Senate
court.

Corona has been making the rounds with media outlets during
the 12-day break of the trial to match the publicity blast that the
prosecution team has been employing against him since day one of the
trial.

Looking silly are the prosecution propagandists, especially Noynoy,
through his mouthpieces slamming Corona on his media interviews, and
accusing him of “defense by publicity,” with even Noynoy and his
spokesmen accusing the Chief Justice of conduct unbecoming a chief
magistrate, while conveniently omitting the fact that their client,
Noynoy, is certainly guilty of conduct unbecoming of a president, as he
takes, to this day, every occasion to demonize the CJ..... MORE

Washington’s election-year offer to share with Russia data on a
US-built European missile defense system will likely fail to address
Moscow’s objections to the project, a Russian security expert says.

Vladimir Kozin, a senior researcher at the Russian Institute of
Strategic Studies (RISI), said Moscow’s lack of full membership in the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) precludes the military bloc
from data-sharing sensitive information with Russia..... MORE

NATO commander James Stavridis has fallen victim to spies who created
a fake profile on his behalf on Facebook and sent numerous “friend
requests” to UK military chiefs. UK media suspect reams of acquired
personal data have flown to China.

­The sham account for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis
is understood to have gathered a distinguished company of British
high-level military officers and Ministry of Defense officials.

While
one might not go looking for sensitive information on a social network
like Facebook, the site can certainly give clues to passwords for
classified files, as it stores dates of birth, phone numbers and
hobbies. It could also help build blackmail or espionage profiles by
disclosing names, family members and friends and tracking locations..... MORESource: RT.com

The British government asserts that Christians have no right to wear a
cross or crucifix at work and is eager to prove it in court.

The case was initiated by two British women Nadia Eweida and Shirley
Chaplin, after they were punished for refusing to take off their
religious symbols.

Nadia Ewedia is a British Airways employee, who
was asked to cover her cross while at work, and was placed on unpaid
leave when she refused to do so. Shirley Chaplin is a nurse moved to a
desk position after she refused to remove a crucifix..... MORE

03/12/2012
One gets the feeling that Noynoy’s
senator-judges and the prosecutors fear that the testimony of the Chief
Justice’s wife, Cristina, may well clear the chief magistrate, Renato
Corona, on his bank deposits which Noynoy and his lapdogs in the Senate
and the prosecution thought all along would be the “final nail” in his
ouster coffin.

With the yellow media going all out to nail the
Chief Justice with their highlight on Ana Guidote’s interview demonizing
her uncle, followed up with an interview with another Basa, a
Franciscan nun, equally meddling in painting the CJ negatively, along
with broad hints from the prosecutors claiming they will be calling on
these two to testify as its rebuttal witness, there went Franklin
Drilon, lawyering for the prosecution again, saying that the two Basa
women can be called to testify, because the CJ’s statements of assets
and liabilities networth (SALn) mentioned the Basa-Guidote Enterprises
Inc. (BGEI), as the firm that had loaned him P11 million, reflected as
his liability..... MORE

The military
yesterday justified its presence in the controversial Hacienda Luisita,
owned by the family of President Aquino, in Tarlac province by citing
support coming from 10 barangay chairmen inside the sugarcane farm,
stressing that local residents want government troops in the area.

Army
7th Infantry Division (ID) spokesman Maj. Enrico Gil Ileto said that
the presence of government troops in Hacienda Luisita, which straddles
the towns of Concepcion, Lapaz and Tarkac City all in Tarlac province,
is also part of the military’s commitment to protect the people.

“Our
presence in that area is a testament of our commitment to protect the
rights of the people as embodied in our Internal Peace and Security Plan
‘Bayanihan,’” Ileto said..... MORE

Senate
President Juan Ponce Enarile said yesterday he would put at stake his
position as presiding judge of the impeachment court should any of the
senator judges or the members of the House prosecution panel make
acerbic remarks that will tend to disrespect Chief Justice Renato Corona
if the defense panel decides to present him as witness during the
impeachment proceedings that resume today.

Enrile assured Corona,
should he decide to appear and defend himself before the impeachment
tribunal, that he will not allow the chief magistrate to be disrespected
by senator-judges, adding that he will resign, should this happen.

“I
will not allow that. If they start making abusive statements against
the Chief Justice, I will immediately resign as presiding judge. I will
tell everyone in the court that our job is to render judgment but
dignity should be accorded him,” he said..... MORE

03/12/2012
Vice President Jejomar Binay has sought
immediate assistance from the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia to help
a Filipino woman, who became pregnant after allegedly being raped by a
fellow Filipino in the Kingdom, where carrying a child out of wedlock is
a capital offense punishable with death.

Binay asked the embassy to facilitate the return of the Filipina, who is believed to be a victim of human trafficking.

The Vice President declined to disclose her identity for security reasons..... MORE

03/12/2012
Fish cage owners and operators in Taal
Lake whose applications for renewal of permits have been disapproved
have only until March 29 to harvest their products, Task Force Taal Lake
officials said.

Task Force Taal also reminded the fish cage
owners with disapproved permits, including those without licenses, that
their fish cages will be dismantled starting March 30 and they no longer
be allowed to operate in the lake.

The task force issued the twin
reminders following a warning Friday by the Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that Taal Lake fishermen should be prepared for
possible fishkills due to temperature changes caused by the scorching
summer heat..... MORE

The
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is set to give
the green light to what stands to become the largest quarry facility in
the National Capital Region (NCR) on top of the Marikina East Valley
Fault — in spite of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology (Phivolcs) warning of an impending strong earthquake on a
movement of the Marikina Valley Fault,

Documents obtained by the
Tribune show that a relatively big mining operation would soon be in
place at a town located at the immediate northeast of Metro Manila.

The
documents, allegedly from the DENR, show that an investment company
registered as San Rafael Development Corp. (SDRC) has started laying the
groundwork of what could be the biggest aggregate excavation and
production activity in the NCR. SRDC, through another entity referred to
as Massab, has already secured a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement
(MPSA) clearing them to commence the quarry, production and sale of a
mineral deemed as necessary in ensuring the structural integrity of
infrastructure works..... MORE

Lawyers of
the Steel Corp. of the Philippines (SCP) have denounced the alleged
irregularities over how a division of the Court of Appeals (CA) handled
its case against the Banco de Oro Universal Bank (BdO).

In a
letter, SCP’s VP-Corporate Legal Counsel, Nonnatus Chua, urged CA’s
Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr., to investigate Justice Normandie
Pizarro, the ponente, together with the two other members of the Special
Fourth Division, namely, Justices Rebecca de Guia-Salvador and Ramon
Bato Jr., for allegedly committing “irregularities and procedural
shortcuts” in violation of the 2009 Internal Rules of the Court of
Appeals (IRCA) and railroading the case in favor of the opposing party
(Banco de Oro Universal Bank or BdO)..... MORE

03/12/2012
The Philippine Association of Water
District (PAWD) is opposing the proposed bills in the Senate and House
of Representatives aiming to privatize the Water Districts in the
country and the establishment of Water and Sanitation Regulatory
Authority. According to PAWD national president Gilbert Camaligan, there
is no reason to privatize the water districts as proposed by Sen.
Edgardo Angara in his Senate Bill 2997 and House Bill No. 5497 of Rep.
Romeo Federico S. Quimbo and Rep. Karlo A.B. Nograles. He added that the
creation of Water Supply and Sanitation Companies, under the section 17
of Senate Bill 2997 which will allow the ownership of the properties of
Water Service Providers, will not do any good to the public..... MORESource: The Daily Tribune